Flu-Fledged Youngblood
by AnimationNut
Summary: Youngblood has a ghostly flu and he might not make it. Ember watches him while the parrot gets help. She realizes that life & the afterlife can be cruel, leaving someone so young to suffer. She finds herself hoping Youngblood has what it takes to make it.


**I do not own Danny Phantom.**

**Flu-Fledged Youngblood**

"You want me to _what_?" Ember exclaimed.

The skeletal parrot sighed with impatience and hovered in front of the incredulous rocker ghost. "I _said_ I need you to watch Youngblood for just a moment while I go find that infernal Phantom."

"Do I look like a babysitter to you?" she snapped.

"Fine. Then I suppose you wouldn't care if Youngblood faded away, erased from existence," returned the ghost child's ghostly guardian.

Ember bit her lip. Youngblood was indeed a brat, but suffering from the ecto-infection disease was nothing to laugh at. Every ghost went through it at some point in their afterlife, but it took a strong ecto-system to withstand it. And since Youngblood was only a child, having died at eight-and-a-half-years old, there was a good chance he wouldn't survive.

Ghosts did not die, per se. They were already dead, their spirits lingering, unwilling to move on. A ghost could fade from existence, however. They would be here one second and gone the next. Ember had already suffered from the ecto-infection disease, and it was an illness a ghost could only catch once. She felt sorry for the brat.

But did she have to be the first person his stupid, overprotective parrot came to for help?

"Alright," Ember agreed grudgingly. "Just hurry back, got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

Ember glowered at his sarcastic tone as the bird flew off. The rocker sighed wearily and flew towards Youngblood's ship. It was only typical that all of his dumb crew members had chosen the same day to take off-the exact day Youngblood happened to fall ill.

"Youngblood?" Ember called and walked cautiously across the wooden deck of the large ship and peered into the captain's quarters.

"Who's there?" a hoarse voice asked.

"Just me pipsqueak," Ember answered. "How're you doing?"

"How does it look like I'm doing?"

Youngblood's pale face was extremely white, even more so than the normal ghost colour. His eyes were filled with green lines, the ghost version of bloodshot eyes, and purple rims circled his eyes. He sniffled feebly and coughed, a wet sound that made Ember wince in disgust.

"Not so good," she replied.

Youngblood pushed himself up and wiped his sweaty green hair out of his face. "I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

Ember was taken aback by this simple question. It was asked so outright and casually, and by a mere child no less. "Not really. You're already dead, remember?"

"Oh yeah. I forget sometimes..." Youngblood pushed the covers off of him and sighed. "I'm so hot and sweaty."

Ember snorted and quickly covered her mouth. Youngblood looked at her quizzically. "What's so funny?"

"I'll tell you when you're older."

Youngblood arched an eyebrow. "I'm not going to grow any older, remember?"

"Oh. Well, I'll tell you in a few years maybe." Ember let out one last snicker before regaining her composure.

Youngblood rolled his eyes. "Teenagers," he muttered. "Can I have some water?"

"Do I look like a maid?"

"But I'm sick! And my throat is really dry," Youngblood pouted.

Ember sighed and stood up. Ghosts really had no need to drink or eat, but if it made the pirate brat stop complaining, then whatever. She remembered the layout of the ship from the time she teamed up with the young ghost. _I must have really been desperate then._

She found the ship's galley easily. She plucked a glass from the wooden cupboards and didn't bother trying the sink. It didn't work. She used her ice breath and watched the crystals melt into water.

She stomped back to Youngblood's room and thrust the glass in his hand. "Here."

"I could hear your boots from the other end of the ship," Youngblood told her, holding the glass to his burning forehead. "You walk loud."

Ember rolled her eyes and settled back in the chair that rested by his bed. "Whatever."

Silence filled the cabin for a moment. Youngblood sniffled and reached for a tissue sitting on his oak nightstand table. He honked loudly into it, and green ecto-plasma snot dripped from the full tissue and landed on her boots.

"Disgusting!" Ember groaned and gingerly kicked her boot off. She watched it roll across the rough wooden floor and crash against the other wall. She wiggled her blue toes and tucked her feet underneath her.

"Won't you get sick too?" Youngblood questioned, flicking the used tissue out the open porthole.

"I already got it a while ago. You only get it once," Ember informed him.

Youngblood smiled softly. "Lucky. I feel like I'm gonna die."

Ember bit her lip and stared at her knees. "You already are," she reminded him again, a bit numbly.

Youngblood didn't answer. He coughed instead. A hunk of green ectoplasm landed on his nightstand table. If Ember had a heart, it would have been beating in panic at the purplish tint it had in it.

That only happened when the ghost's immune system was getting weaker.

"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Youngblood asked, his voice cracking with fear. Ember tried to force the panic out of her eyes.

"No, but I'm sure it'll pass," she soothed the young child. She got up and ignored the wooden splinters that were poking into her bare foot. She tucked the covers around the boy and placed the glass of water on his nightstand. She rubbed a cool hand across his forehead. "Feel better?"

"A bit," his voice dropped to a whisper. "Can you sing me a lullaby?"

Ember's hand stilled for just a moment. But she noticed Youngblood's glow getting weaker. "Sure," she whispered back, trying hard to keep the tears out of her voice.

She normally never got so emotional. Youngblood had always been a pain in her side. A brat. But he was just a child. It wasn't fair he already died so young the first time around. Now he was going to again. He never got to experience the freedom of being a young adult. He would never get to understand the adult jokes. He was the only child in the Ghost Zone. Dani didn't really count. She never hung around the Ghost Zone for more than a day. The only real friend Youngblood had was his parrot, who had discovered the young ghost child in the boy's early days of his afterlife. He stayed by Youngblood's side ever since.

Ember didn't mind her death. Her life had been torture. A demanding manager, greedy parents and fake friends. In the afterlife, she had a boyfriend who genuinely liked her. She had actual girlfriends. She could actually play music for fun and not for criticizing fans. The only flaw in her life was Danny Phantom and sometimes Walker, who needed to take the pole out of his backside.

But Youngblood...he was alone. She never realized that until now. An overwhelming sense of guilt rose in her when she realized she used to make Youngblood feel how she felt in her life.

Sitting cross-legged on the end of Youngblood's bed, Ember placed her guitar in her lap and stroked the chords to _Yo Ho,Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life for Me._

The melody rocked Youngblood to sleep. His eyes fluttered shut and he gripped Ember's ankle tightly, as if afraid she would leave him. Ember blinked away the lump in her throat when Youngblood's glow dimmed to the point where it looked like it didn't exist at all.

"Please be okay," she whispered.

"Youngblood!"

Instinct kicked in and Ember twisted around, guitar raised threateningly and glared at whoever dared mess with her. But it was just the parrot. He flew over and hovered anxiously over the child. Phantom came in next, green eyes flooded with worry.

"I didn't know you cared," Ember muttered, lowering her guitar.

"Of course I care. He's a brat, but he's also pretty amusing when he wants to be." Danny floated over and gently stroked Youngblood's boiling forehead. "Besides, how come _you're_ still here?"

Ember blushed, but knew he had a point. She never would've stuck around if she hadn't cared about the little dweeb. "Will you be able to make him better?"

Danny glanced at her, and his glowing green eyes softened at the sincere concern in her voice. "If we hurry up and go to Frostbite right away, then yes. I believe so."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Youngblood's parrot muttered.

"Because you're just a birdbrain," Ember joked.

Danny snickered slightly and lifted Youngblood up. The two ghosts zoomed out of the cabin and towards Frostbite's land. The parrot glowered after them for just a moment. "Real funny," he muttered before taking off after them.

...

Ember stared at her songbook and then at her guitar. She was supposed to be a musician. Why was this so hard?

Something wet and rubbery crashed into her face. Ember fell backwards and pushed her now-sopping turquoise hair out of her face and scowled when the makeup ran onto her fingers, staining them black. "_Youngblood!_"

"Avast, me hearties!" Youngblood hollered, swinging his sword around and gleefully fired more water balloons into the swirling green space that was the Ghost Zone.

Ember shielded her face with her songbook and could not help but smirk.

"Nice to see that you're feeling better, you little brat."


End file.
